This invention relates to a combination of an amalgam carrier and condenser and particularly relates to apparatus which performs an amalgam carrying and condensing operation within a single unique structure.
There presently exists many amalgam carriers which are lever activated and so on. Generally, an amalgam carrier is a device which is adapted for picking pieces of amalgam and transferring them to cavities in the teeth of a patient. The transported amalgam is then condensed within the cavity by means of a separate instrument commonly referred to as a condenser.
Thus, in many prior art applications, the practitioner is required to utilize both a carrier instrument and a condenser instrument in order to fill a patient's cavity with amalgam. The prior art, being cognizant of such problems, has offered instruments which function both as a carrier and a condenser to attempt to incorporate both functions in a single instrument.
Examples of such combinations can be had by referring to prior United States patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 2,696,670 entitled Combination Amalgam Carrier and Plugger by Robert B. Thurman issued on Dec. 14, 1954. This instrument provides a locking means which enables one to lock a slideable piston in a condenser position. The lock provided affords a twisting operation wherein a plugger handle is twisted into a slot formed in the housing.
Other patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 2,917,830 employ a rotatable mechanism which enables one to rotate the device to enable operation of the same in a condenser position. Still other patents as U.S. Pat. No. 3,221,409 incorporate a separate dispensing mechanism located adjacent the carrier portion to enable the practitioner to carry and dispense amalgam. Similar apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,476,793 entitled Amalgam Carrier Condenser Attachment.
Other patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 1,797,866 and 3,735,492 show various alternate embodiments for providing carrying or condenser operations.
Basically, a review of the prior art as indicated above shows that such devices are extremely complicated and have severe limitations in their operating characteristics. There are certain problems which are typical in regard to such devices. In many instances, the plugger which is associated with the carrier becomes coated with silver or amalgam which jams the instrument and in essence, locks the carrier rod to the plugger. This renders the instrument unusable.
In certain other instruments, the combination of the condenser and the carrier render the instrument extremely difficult to use as the practitioner has to rotate the instrument and so on. Essentially, many of the instruments described in the prior art are extremely difficult to manufacture based on the fact that they are complicated and difficult to implement and to build.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a lever type amalgam carrier and condenser apparatus which is simple to use, easy to operate, and inexpensive to manufacture. The apparatus thus provided further enables one to rapidly gain access to the plunger and rod apparatus to enable rapid cleaning or replacement, as desired.
The combination further provides an effective locking means whereby activation of the locking means enables the practitioner to use the tip of the plugger rod as a condenser in a first lock position and to use the apparatus in a second unlocked position in an amalgam carrying operation.